Study links sugary drinks to a staggering amount of deaths per year

Study links sugary drinks to a staggering amount of deaths per year, with low and middle-income countries bearing the brunt of the burden.

Harvard has plenty of bad stuff to report about sugary drinks too and cautions, “Fruit juice is not a better option. Even though it has more nutrients, it contains as much sugar (though from naturally occurring fruit sugars rather than added sugar) and calories as soft drinks.” Here are some of the heavy facts:

Two out of three adults and one out of three children in the United States are overweight or obese, (29) and the nation spends an estimated $190 billion a year treating obesity-related health conditions. (30) Rising consumption of sugary drinks has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. (31) On any given day, half the people in the U.S. consume sugary drinks; 1 in 4 consume at least 200 calories from such drinks; and 5% drink at least 567 calories—equivalent to four cans of soda. (32)…

The role of marketing
Sugary drinks (soda, energy, sports drinks) are the top calorie source in teens’ diets (226 calories per day), beating out pizza (213 calories per day). (34)

From 1989 to 2008, calories consumed in the form of sugary beverages increased by 60% in children ages 6 to 11, and the percentage of children consuming them rose from 79% to 91%. (35)

14 thoughts on “Study links sugary drinks to a staggering amount of deaths per year”

Sugar in ANY form is not a better option. Especially if you are glucose challenged. Do know that starch converts to sugar so those supposedly healthy “whole” grains don’t get a pass. They all end up as sugar.

Which is important because sugar is what bodies burn for fuel. The problem isn’t that starches convert to sugars, or that fruits and vegetables contain sugars — it’s that we eat so much stuff which has been processed in a way which ADDS sugar. Sugars are absolutely necessary for life, but too much is bad for us, and many of us got used to the sugars added to processed food in order to make up for the taste lost when fat was removed from them.